BME,Research News

October 5, 2009

Understanding a Cell's Split Personality Aids Synthetic Circuits

DURHAM, N.C. -- As scientists work toward making genetically altered bacteria create living “circuits” to produce a myriad of useful proteins and chemicals, they have logically assumed that the single-celled organisms would always respond to an external command in the same way. Alas, some bacteria apparently have an individualistic streak that makes them zig when the others zag. A new set of experiments by Duke University bioengineers has uncovered the existence of “bistability,” in which an individual ...

July 7, 2009

Finding the Constant in Bacterial Communication

DURHAM, N.C. -- The Rosetta Stone of bacterial communication may have been found. Although they have no sensory organs, bacteria can get a good idea about what’s going on in their neighborhood and communicate with each other, mainly by secreting and taking in chemicals from their surrounding environment. Even though there are millions of different kinds of bacteria with their own ways of sensing the world around them, Duke University bioengineers believe they have found a ...

June 18, 2009

Autonomous Robot Detects Shrapnel

DURHAM, N.C. – Bioengineers at Duke University have developed a laboratory robot that can successfully locate tiny pieces of metal within flesh and guide a needle to its exact location -– all without the need for human assistance. The successful proof-of-feasibility experiments lead the researchers to believe that in the future, such a robot could not only help treat shrapnel injuries on the battlefield, but might also be used for such medical procedures as placing and ...

June 16, 2009

Potential For Non-Invasive Brain Tumor Treatment

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University engineers have taken a first step toward a minimally invasive treatment of brain tumors by combining chemotherapy with heat administered from the end of a catheter. The proof-of-concept study demonstrated that it should be technically possible to treat brain tumors without the side effects associated with the traditional approaches of surgery, systemic chemotherapy or radiation. The bioengineers designed and built an ultrasound catheter that can fit into large blood vessels of the ...

April 30, 2009

Limping Rat Provides Sciatica Insights

DURHAM, N.C. -- A newly developed animal model for the painful nerve condition known as sciatica should help researchers diagnose and treat it, according to Duke University bioengineers and surgeons. Sciatica is not a single disorder, but rather a diverse range of symptoms, such as numbness or pain from the lower back to the feet, radiating leg pain or difficulty in controlling the leg. It is often caused by compression, or pinching, of any of the ...

April 22, 2009

BME Doctoral Student Talks About Bionic Arm on 60 Minutes

Jon Kuniholm lost part of his right arm as the result of a roadside bombing in Iraq in 2005. Since that time, the retired Marine Corps officer has been researching new designs for functional limb prostheses as a doctoral student in biomedical engineering at the Pratt School of Engineering. As a vet and as a researcher -- he’s also co-founder of a company working on arm prostheses -- he was interviewed recently by the CBS program ...

April 1, 2009

Light Reveals Breast Tumor Oxygen Status

DURHAM, N.C. – Light directed at a breast tumor through a needle can provide pathologists with biological specifics of the tumor and help oncologists choose treatment options that would be most effective for that individual patient. Duke University bioengineers have developed a light-based system that can quickly and easily provide important information about oxygen levels within a tumor while it is still in place. The new system, based on diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, gives researchers important clues ...

March 24, 2009

Half of Americans See Other Country as Technological Leader

DURHAM, N.C. -– Half of all Americans expect another country to emerge this century as the world’s leader in addressing technological challenges that range from the economy to global warming, according to a survey of U.S. public opinion released March 3 by Duke University. Although only 34 percent of Americans gave themselves a grade of A or B for understanding “the world of engineers and what they do,” 72 percent nonetheless expect the technological advancements of ...

February 13, 2009

First Step to Autonomous Breast Biopsy Robot

Duke University bioengineers have developed a laboratory robot that can locate the earliest traces of a mass in simulated breast tissue and reach that mass with a biopsy needle – all without the need for human assistance. The results of proof-of-feasibility studies lead the researchers to believe that routine medical procedures such as breast biopsies will be performed in the future with minimal human guidance, and at greater convenience and less cost to patients. The researchers envision ...

February 2, 2009

Scattered Light Rapidly Detects Tumor Response to Chemotherapy

By interpreting how beams of light scatter off of tumor cell samples, researchers can determine if cancer cells are responding to chemotherapeutic agents within a matter of hours. The researchers said that the new technology, which was developed by Duke University bioengineers, will not only permit clinicians to more precisely detect whether or not specific cancer drugs are working, but should give basic researchers a powerful new tool to better understand the underlying mechanisms of cancer ...

November 10, 2008

Duke Engineering Contest Connects U.S. Students with National Problems

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering challenges college students in the U.S. to create a video and an essay in response to this question: Which of the 14 grand challenges identified by the National Academy of Engineering would you choose to address, and how would you do it? The National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges (http://www.engineeringchallenges.org) has identified 14 critical barriers to a sustainable way of life. They represent problems that will require ...

August 28, 2008

Tiny 3-D Ultrasound Probe Guides Catheter Procedures

DURHAM, N.C. – An ultrasound probe small enough to ride along at the tip of a catheter can provide physicians with clearer real-time images of soft tissue without the risks associated with conventional x-ray catheter guidance.Duke University biomedical engineers designed and fabricated the novel ultrasound probe which is powerful enough to provide detailed, 3-D images. The new device works like an insect's compound eye, blending images from 108 miniature transducers working together. Catheter-based procedures involve snaking ...

August 28, 2008

Tiny 3-D Ultrasound Probe Guides Catheter Procedures

June 19, 2008

Smart Home Gets Top Environmental Building Score

Residence hall/laboratory receives state's first platinum LEED rating DURHAM, NC -- The Home Depot Smart Home at Duke University, a 10-person student residence hall for green living and learning, has achieved a top-level platinum standard for its design from the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED rating system. The building becomes the first in North Carolina to achieve that standard. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The 6,000-square foot-residence, designed by students and advisers, earned 59 ...

May 20, 2008

Engineering the Heart - Damaged Heart Muscle Could Use Stem Cell Patch

Five Question Interview with Nenad Bursac Nenad Bursac is an assistant professor in biomedical engineering who works with stem cells, tissue engineering and biomaterials to find a way to patch and repair the damage created by a heart attack. Q - How did you get from electrical engineering to heart muscles? I was always fascinated by the heart as an extremely complex and powerful, and yet delicate, organ. The heart is both an electrical and mechanical ...

April 24, 2008

New 3-D Ultrasound Could Improve Stroke Diagnosis, Care

DURHAM, N.C. – Using 3-D ultrasound technology they designed, Duke University bioengineers can compensate for the thickness and unevenness of the skull to see in real-time the arteries within the brain that most often clog up and cause strokes. The researchers believe that these advances will ultimately improve the treatment of stroke patients, whether by giving emergency medical technicians (EMT) the ability to quickly scan the heads of potential stroke victims while in the ambulance or ...

April 21, 2008

Clare Boothe Luce Fellows Two Years Later

Two years after receiving prestigious fellowships designed to support women scientists, three Pratt graduate students are well into their research with such diverse projects as brain-computer interfaces, nanoparticle exposures and a new method for breast cancer screening. In 2006, Katie Hedlund, Christine Robichaud and Christina Shafer were named Clare Boothe Luce Fellows. The fellowship program is the largest such private program for women studying science, mathematics or engineering. More than 1,500 women scientists have received support ...

April 17, 2008

Joseph Izatt Elected SPIE Fellow

SPIE, the international society for the science and application of light, has elected Duke biomedical engineering professor Joseph Izatt a fellow of the society. This year SPIE chose only 72 new fellows worldwide. Fellows are members of distinction who have made significant scientific and technical contributions in the multidisciplinary fields of optics, photonics, and imaging. They are honored for their technical achievement, for their service to the general optics community, and to SPIE in particular. More than ...

April 15, 2008

Novel Living System Recreates Predator-Prey Interaction

DURHAM, N.C. – The hunter-versus-hunted phenomenon exemplified by a pack of lionesses chasing down a lonely gazelle has been recreated in a Petri dish with lowly bacteria. Working with colleagues at Caltech, Stanford and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a Duke University bioengineer has developed a living system using genetically altered bacteria that he believes can provide new insights into how the population levels of prey influence the levels of predators, and vice-versa. The Duke experiment is ...

March 17, 2008

Duke optical spinoff company wins Frost & Sullivan North America Award for Excellence in Research

Bioptigen, a spinoff company co-founded by Duke biomedical engineer Joseph Izatt, has won the Frost & Sullivan 2007 North American Optical Coherence Tomography Excellence in Research Award. Bioptigen was singled out for its work in spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) for ophthalmology. "This recognition is validation of our vision for the current and future potential of SD-OCT,” said Izatt, professor of biomedical engineering and opthamology, and Chief Technology Officer at Bioptigen. “Our emphasis looking forward is ...

January 7, 2008

High-Energy Ultrasound Sharpens View of Liver Tumors

A high-energy form of ultrasound imaging developed by researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering produces pictures of liver tumors that are better than those made with traditional ultrasound, according to results of a clinical study. The study suggests that the imaging method known as Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) ultrasound might offer a new tool for screening patients at increased risk for liver cancers, according to the researchers. They say it might also ...

November 26, 2007

Tumor Assessment Device Wins Seed Funding from The Carolinas Photonics Consortium

The Carolinas Photonics Consortium (CPC) has selected biomedical engineering postdoctoral researcher Quincy Brown of Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering to receive $10,000 in seed funding for the development of a device aimed at dramatically decreasing the number of repeat surgeries for women with breast cancer. "In the U.S., more than 145,000 women with breast cancer have to undergo two or more invasive surgeries to completely remove their cancer," Brown said. "Those second surgeries impose a ...

November 20, 2007

Capturing the Inner Workings of Early Stage Cancer in 3-D

Biomedical engineers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering have captured three-dimensional images revealing microscopic changes to the inner workings of cells that occur at the earliest stages of cancer, suggesting a possible new way of disease detection. Their findings in animals also suggest that so-called multi-photon fluorescence microscopy—a technique that had generally been limited to the basic science laboratory—might also find use in the clinic. "We were able to capture physiological ...

October 3, 2007

Ashutosh Chilkoti Named Director of Center for Biologically Inspired Materials and Material Systems

Professor Ashutosh Chilkoti has been appointed director of the Center for Biologically Inspired Materials and Materials Systems (CBIMMS), Pratt Dean Robert Clark announced on Oct. 2. CBIMMS is an interdisciplinary Duke center focused on bio-nano-manufacturing, biointerface science and nanomechanics, using designs found in nature as inspiration for engineering advances. In his capacity as center director, Chilkoti will also lead Pratt’s strategic research initiative in materials. "As associate director of CBIMMS, Chilkoti provided extensive leadership on multi-investigator proposals ...

October 1, 2007

Pratt Pair Wins YouTube Contest

Watch Laura Moore and Lisa Richard's video "Shedding Light on Breast Cancer," which highlights their research done as Pratt Undergraduate Research Fellows. Two seniors in the Pratt School of Engineering have won the Duke University prize in a national YouTube video competition. Laura Moore (BME '08) and Lisa Richards (BME '08) produced a three-minute film about a research project that is using specially filtered light to improve breast cancer detection and measurement. Both students have been working ...

October 1, 2007

Annual Fitzpatrick Meeting to Highlight 'Science and Technology for a Purpose'

Fitzpatrick Institute Director Tuan Vo-Dinh The seventh annual meeting of Duke's Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, which will be held at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering on Oct. 11 and 12, will highlight "Photonics in the Translational Era: Science and Technology for a Purpose." Photonics is the science and technology of light and its interaction with materials. "The main purpose of the symposium is to bring together scientists, engineers and practitioners from multiple disciplines and provide a forum ...

October 1, 2007

David Fitzpatrick Named to Lead Neuroscience Institute at Duke

David Fitzpatrick, a professor of neurobiology at Duke University, has been named the first director of the new interdisciplinary Institute for Brain, Mind, Genes, and Behavior, Provost Peter Lange announced Monday. The institute, an outgrowth of the university’s latest strategic plan, is being created “to build on our existing strengths in a variety of disciplines that are critical for understanding brain function,” Fitzpatrick explained. “I’m looking forward to working together with the faculty and administration ...

August 30, 2007

New Insights into Common Knee Injuries

The sort of swelling that occurs when a joint is damaged by injury or degeneration is normally essential to the healing process, but when it comes to the knee, that inflammation can actually interfere with healing. These findings in experiments with pigs may lead to treatments for injuries or osteoarthritis in the knee, according to Duke University orthopedic researchers. There are drugs that can block the action of these immune system proteins that trigger joint inflammation. The ...

August 15, 2007

See More, Know More

For patients, minimally invasive surgery done through tiny "keyhole" incisions generally means less trauma to the body, less blood loss, smaller surgical scars and less need for pain medication. Surgeons now use optical endoscopes—thin tubes with a tiny video camera--or two-dimensional ultrasound to navigate the surgeries. Did you know? Professors Stephen Smith and Olaf Von Ramm, also of the Pratt School, developed the first 3D ultrasound scanner in 1987 for imaging the heart from outside the ...

August 15, 2007

Feel the Beat

In addition to displaying cardiac anatomy, various medical imaging techniques—including PET, CT, MRI and echocardiography provide information related to heart function. However, the potential complications with the use of contrast agents as well as the cost of these imaging methods are limiting factors for their widespread clinical application, and none of these methods can "see" the heart as it stiffens and softens with each beat. Did you know? The average heartbeat is 72 times per minute. In ...

August 15, 2007

DNA, a la carte

In 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first human vaccine to offer protection against the H5N1 influenza virus, commonly known as avian or bird flu. Yet, in the event that a viral strain began spreading from human to human, the vaccine is expected to provide only limited protection until a tailored vaccine could be developed and produced. Did you know? The freedom to synthesize the precise DNA sequences you want would change the way ...

August 15, 2007

Reigning in HIV/AIDS

An estimated 12,000 people contract the AIDS virus each day, including a disproportionate number of women. Microbicides might help protect at-risk women by serving as "molecular condoms"--physical barriers or filters with HIV-neutralizing ingredients that slow viral passage from semen into body tissues. Human Need In many cases, women lack the control needed to protect themselves against the virus. Microbicide development is a response to the demonstrated need for new female-controlled methods for HIV prophylaxis. David Katz A team ...

August 15, 2007

Drug Depot

Osteoarthritis--a degenerative joint disease that affects 21 million people in the U.S. and is the nation's leading cause of disability--had been attributed primarily to the gradual wear and tear of joint surfaces. More recently, scientists have discovered that inflammation sparked by the immune system also plays an important role in the worsening of the disease. However, trials of a drug aimed at blocking that joint inflammation have had limited success, primarily because the medication clears ...

August 15, 2007

Special Delivery

Gene therapy is a promising approach for treating many genetic disorders, particularly those such as hemophilia and some metabolic diseases, in which a missing or dysfunctional gene fails to provide a protein required for normal bodily functions. However, the therapeutic potential of gene therapy has been limited by the lack of safe and efficient delivery systems. Did you know? About one in every 5,000 males has hemophilia A, in which a deficiency for a single blood clotting ...

August 15, 2007

Ultrasound Solution

Many major diseases of the liver cause the organ to stiffen over time due to scarring, a condition known as fibrosis. Ultimately, such disorders--including hepatitis and fatty liver disease--can lead to cirrhosis, in which scarred tissue becomes an obstacle to blood flow and liver function. Today, doctors remove liver tissue through biopsy procedures to determine how far a patient's disease has progressed. Did you know? Cirrhosis is the 12th leading cause of death by disease, killing about ...

July 30, 2007

Duke Scientists to Explore Networks and Systems of Biology

DURHAM, N.C. -- The National Institute for General Medical Sciences has awarded Duke University a $14.5 million, five-year grant to establish a new national center for systems biology in the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (IGSP). The center will bring together experimentalists and modeling experts from biology, statistics, computer science, mathematics, physics and engineering to explore how the intricate biological networks that govern living cells operate at three different time scales: minutes, days and ...

July 9, 2007

'Virtual' Mouse Brains Now Available Online

A multi-institutional consortium including Duke University has created startlingly crisp 3-D microscopic views of tiny mouse brains -- unveiled layer by layer -- by extending the capabilities of conventional magnetic resonance imaging. "These images can be more than 100,000 times higher resolution than a clinical MRI scan," said G. Allan Johnson, Duke's Charles E. Putman Distinguished Professor of radiology and professor of biomedical engineering and physics. He is first author of a report describing the innovations ...

June 25, 2007

Carolina Universities Form Photonics Consortium To Boost Technology Commercialization

Getting photonics (light-based) technologies to the marketplace has just gotten easier. Duke University has joined four Carolina universities in forming the Carolinas Photonics Consortium (CPC). Representatives of North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Western Carolina University, Clemson University and Duke University signed a CPC Inter-Institutional Agreement that establishes a foundation for collaborative university work aimed at the commercialization of photonics or light-based technologies. “This is a tremendous opportunity to bring science ...

June 20, 2007

3-D Ultrasound Provides Window on the Brain

Biomedical engineers at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering have adapted a three-dimensional ultrasound scanner that might guide minimally invasive brain surgeries and provide better detection of a brain tumor’s location. The “brain scope,” which is inserted into a dime-sized hole in the skull, may be particularly useful for the bedside evaluation of critically ill patients when computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment is unavailable, the researchers said. They report the development in a ...

June 5, 2007

Diagnosing Skin Cancers with Light, Not Scalpels

In an early step toward nonsurgical screening for malignant skin cancers, Duke University chemists have demonstrated a laser-based system that can capture three-dimensional images of the chemical and structural changes underway beneath the surface of human skin. "The standard way physicians do a diagnosis now is to cut out a mole and look at a slice of it with a microscope," said Warren Warren, the James B. Duke Professor of chemistry, radiology and biomedical engineering, ...

May 30, 2007

How Brain Pacemakers Erase Diseased Messages

Brain "pacemakers" that have helped ease symptoms in people with Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders seem to work by drowning out the electrical signals of their diseased brains. Despite the clinical success of the devices, which have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and can be found in the heads of about 30,000 people, the mechanisms by which deep brain stimulation alleviates disease symptoms aren't well understood. Biomedical engineers at Duke University's Pratt School ...

May 1, 2007

Coulter-Duke Translational Partnership – Year Two

Four new projects have been selected for funding through the 2007 call for proposals for the Coulter-Duke Translational Partnership. Biomedical engineering professor Ashutosh Chilkoti is partnering with Assistant Professor Philip Febbo of the Duke School of Medicine and Institute for Genome Science and Policy (IGSP) on a project titled “Ultra-Sensitive Microarray Platform for the Detection of Serum Markers of Prostate Cancer.” Biomedical engineering Associate Professor Warren Grill is partnering with Associate Professor Cindy Amundsen of the Department ...

April 24, 2007

Ultrasound Upgrade Produces Images That Work Like 3-D Movies

Parents-to-be might soon don 3-D glasses in the ultrasound lab to see their developing fetuses in the womb "in living 3-D, just like at the IMAX movies," according to researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering.The same Duke team that first developed real-time, three-dimensional ultrasound imaging says it has now modified the commercial version of the scanner to produce an even more realistic perception of depth. Paired images seem to pop out of the ...

April 10, 2007

Keck Futures Grant Supports Development of Liquid Electrodes for 'Smart' Prosthetics

The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative today announced that Warren Grill, of Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, and David Martin, of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, are recipients of a 2006 Futures grant to support their work on smart prosthetics. The competitive seed grants aim to fill a critical gap for research on bold new ideas, according to The National Academies. Grill and Martin will investigate whether rubber electrodes can record electrical signals from and ...

April 1, 2007

Light-Based Probe 'Sees' Early Cancers in First Tests on Human Tissue

Listen to Adam Wax's answers to questions about the new device: --Why would you want to look at organ surfaces? --What is Barrett's esophagus and how is it linked to cancer? --Who is at risk of Barrett's esophagus? --How do doctors check for early cancer in the esophagus now? --What are the advantages of the new "fa/LCI" device? --What do changes in the cell nucleus mean? --How does the new device work? --Will this device be useful for other types of cancer? --Will there ...

March 26, 2007

Light-Based Probe 'Sees' Early Cancers in First Tests on Human Tissue

February 16, 2007

Biomedical Engineers Advance on 'Smart Bladder Pacemaker'

Duke University biomedical engineering researchers have moved a step closer to a "smart bladder pacemaker" that might one day restore bladder control in patients with spinal cord injury or neurological disease. The team's latest findings show that a device that taps into the urinary "circuit" in the spinal cord could selectively coordinate the contraction and release of muscles required for maintaining continence. Warren Grill of Duke's Pratt School of Engineering and his colleagues have shown in cats ...

February 5, 2007

Woven Scaffolds Could Improve Cartilage Repair

Using a unique weaving machine of their design, Duke University Medical Center researchers have created a three-dimensional fabric "scaffold" that could greatly improve the ability of physicians to repair damaged joints with the patient's own stem cells. "If further experiments are successful, the scaffold could be used in clinical trials within three or four years," said Franklin Moutos, a graduate student in the Orthopedic Bioengineering Laboratory who designed and built the weaving machine. "The first joints ...

January 1, 2007

New Institute for Brain, Mind, Genes and Behavior Established

A new Duke University institute is asking what makes people think, feel and behave the way they do -- and its researchers say the answers may not only advance scientific understanding but also provide insight into societal problems and help patients who have a variety of disorders or diseases. One of several interdisciplinary groups that will participate in the new institute is the Duke Center for Neuroengineering. "The mission of the Institute for Brain, Mind, Genes ...

December 14, 2006

New Institute for Brain, Mind, Genes and Behavior Established

December 12, 2006

“Molecular Condom” Holds Promise in the Fight against HIV/AIDS

Scientists at the University of Utah and Duke University designed a "molecular condom" that women could use daily to prevent AIDS. The condom consists of a vaginally inserted liquid that turns into a gel-like coating and then, when exposed to semen, returns to liquid form and releases an antiviral drug. "We have developed a new vaginal gel that we call a molecular condom because it is composed of molecules that are liquid at room temperature and, ...

November 1, 2006

Packard Fellow to Examine Processing Speed of 'Reprogrammed' Bacteria

Packard Fellow Lingchong You Lingchong You, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the Pratt School of Engineering, has won a fellowship from the David & Lucile Packard Foundation for his research into the information processing speed of bacteria that have been “reprogrammed” to perform new, and potentially useful, tasks. The Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering aims to provide support for “unusually creative researchers” within their first three years as faculty, according to the foundation’s web site. ...

October 30, 2006

3-D Ultrasound Scanner Could Guide Robotic Surgeries

Duke University engineers have shown that a three-dimensional ultrasound scanner they developed can successfully guide a surgical robot. The scanner could find application in various medical settings, according to the researchers. They said the scanner ultimately might enable surgeries to be performed without surgeons, a capability that could prove valuable in space stations or other remote locations. "It's the first time, to our knowledge, that anyone has used the information in a 3-D ultrasound scan to actually ...

October 30, 2006

Duke Packard Fellow to Examine Processing Speed of “Reprogrammed” Bacteria

Lingchong You, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering, has won a fellowship from the David & Lucile Packard Foundation for his research into the information processing speed of bacteria that have been “reprogrammed” to perform new, and potentially useful, tasks. The Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering aims to provide support for “unusually creative researchers” within their first three years as faculty, according to the foundation’s web site. You--one of ...

October 16, 2006

New Engineered Drug May Offer Prolonged Arthritis Relief

Researchers at Duke University have devised a new way to significantly prolong the effects of an anti-inflammatory drug, potentially making it useful for providing longer-lasting treatment for osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis.The modified drug, which would be injected directly into arthritic joints, could last for several weeks rather than just the few hours the unmodified drug would last, the researchers said. In their study, the researchers modified a drug called interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL1RA). ...

October 3, 2006

Improving Microbicide Design for HIV/AIDS Prevention

Duke University biomedical engineers have developed a computer tool they say could lead to improvements in topical microbicides being developed for women to use to prevent infection by the virus that causes AIDS.Providing women with improved microbicides is a pressing challenge because women now account for a growing number of new infections worldwide, the researchers said.By applying fundamentals of physics and chemistry, the researchers developed a computer model that can predict the effectiveness of various ...

September 29, 2006

Study Defines Effective Microbicide Design for HIV/AIDS Prevention

Duke University biomedical engineers have developed a computer tool they say could lead to improvements in topical microbicides being developed for women to use to prevent infection by the virus that causes AIDS. Providing women with improved microbicides is a pressing challenge because women now account for a growing number of new infections worldwide, the researchers said. By applying fundamentals of physics and chemistry, the researchers developed a computer model that can predict the effectiveness of various ...

May 1, 2006

Duke Engineer Wins Beckman Young Investigator Award

Jingdong Tian Biomedical engineer Jingdong Tian of Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering has been named a Beckman Young Investigator by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. Tian will receive $264,000 over three years to pursue research titled “High-Throughput Forward Engineering of Novel Biological Systems Using Microfluidic DNA Microchip.” Tian aims to develop new strategies and enabling technologies for efficient engineering, fabrication, and optimization of novel, genetically encoded bionanosystems. Such technology has the potential to aid in gene ...

April 14, 2006

Duke Engineer Wins Beckman Young Investigator Award

Biomedical engineer Jingdong Tian of Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering has been named a Beckman Young Investigator by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. Tian will receive $264,000 over three years to pursue research titled “High-Throughput Forward Engineering of Novel Biological Systems Using Microfluidic DNA Microchip.” Tian aims to develop new strategies and enabling technologies for efficient engineering, fabrication, and optimization of novel, genetically encoded bionanosystems. Such technology has the potential to aid in gene medicine ...

April 12, 2006

Duke Research Teams Win Keck Futures Initiatives Grants

Two research teams led by Duke faculty have been granted $75,000 each from the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative in support of interdisciplinary research on genomics and infectious disease. Duke won two grants out of a total of 14 awarded. Debra Schwinn, professor of anesthesiology, pharmacology/cancer biology and surgery at the School of Medicine, leads a team developing an inexpensive diagnostic for malaria using combined nanotechnology and genomic approaches. With this project, the researchers will develop ...

April 4, 2006

Factor Stimulates Cartilage Growth from Stem Cells

A novel growth factor significantly improves the ability of specialized stem cells derived from human fat to be transformed into cartilage cells, according to Duke University Medical Center and Pratt School of Engineering researchers. Such growth factors are crucial to the bioengineering of tissues for clinical use in humans, the researchers said, because cells would need to be grown quickly and in large numbers in order to be practical. For the current study, as well as ...

April 1, 2006

Duke Awards First Coulter Translational Research Grants

The Duke-Coulter Translational Partners Grant Program has selected its first four projects for funding, focusing on improved cancer treatment, intraoperative breast cancer diagnoses, improved therapy for degenerative arthritis of the knee, and bioengineered cartilage for hip joint repair. Each team will receive roughly $100,000 to bring their technology to a marketable stage. Farshid Guilak, professor of orthopaedic surgery and biomedical engineering, is partnering with Kam Leong, professor of biomedical engineering and surgery and T. Parker Vail, ...

March 30, 2006

3D Ultrasound Device Poised to Advance Minimally Invasive Surgery

DURHAM, N.C. -- Three-dimensional ultrasound probes built by researchers at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering have imaged the beating hearts of dogs. The engineers said their demonstration showed that the probes could give surgeons a better view during human endoscopic surgeries in which operations are performed through tiny “keyhole” incisions. If the probes prove beneficial in human testing, the advance might lead to more precise and safer endoscopic surgeries, said the Duke engineers. The researchers reported ...

March 29, 2006

New Insight into Joint Lubrication that Keeps Osteoarthritis at Bay

ATLANTA -- New evidence to explain how the body’s natural joint lubricant prevents the wear and tear that can lead to osteoarthritis has been uncovered by researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering The findings may lead to new methods for treating arthritis, the researchers said. The team found in realistic models of joints that, rather than simply reducing friction, a component of joint fluid called lubricin forms a very thin barrier that repels joint ...

March 29, 2006

Duke Engineers Building 'Erasible' Detectors, 'Nanobrushes' and DNA 'Highrises'

ATLANTA -- A Duke University engineering group is doing pioneering work at very diminutive dimensions. Their basic studies could lead to genetically engineered proteins that can form erasable chemical detectors; self-grown forests of molecular "bottlebrushes" that keep themselves contamination-free; and auto-assembled DNA "towers" that could become anchors for the tiniest of devices. Professor of biomedical engineering Ashutosh Chilkoti of Duke's Pratt School of Engineering will describe such advances in designing bio-detectors and structures scaled in the ...

March 17, 2006

Tuan Vo-Dinh to Lead Duke's Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics

DURHAM, N.C. -- Tuan Vo-Dinh, a pioneer in the field of photonics at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has joined the biomedical engineering department at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering, where he will serve as director of the Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics. Vo-Dinh said he plans to establish Duke as a national “center of gravity” for photonics research by tapping into the breadth of faculty expertise and facilities at the Pratt School, as well as Duke’s ...

March 9, 2006

Light-Based Device Probes for Early Cancer

A novel device that could use light to harmlessly and almost instantly probe for early signs of cancer has been developed by researchers at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering. The device would allow physicians to search for cancer in epithelial cells that line body surfaces, including the skin, lungs and digestive and reproductive tracts, by simply inserting a fiber optic probe. The team has reported the first clinically practical version of their “angle-resolved low coherence interferometry” ...

March 2, 2006

Weighting Cancer Drugs To Make Them Hit Tumors Harder

Scientists have devised a blueprint for boosting anti-cancer drugs' effectiveness and lowering their toxicity by attaching the equivalent of a lead sinker onto the drugs. This extra weight makes the drugs penetrate and accumulate inside tumors more effectively. Chemotherapy drugs often fall short of achieving their full impact because the drugs diffuse in and out of the tumor too rapidly, said the scientists from Duke's Pratt School of Engineering and Duke University Medical Center. The scientists increased ...

March 1, 2006

Leong to Lead Initiative Aimed at Nanomedicine

Kam Leong Kam Leong, a national leader in drug and gene delivery at Johns Hopkins University, has joined the department of biomedical engineering at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering, where he will serve as director of the school’s Bioengineering Initiative. Leong said he plans to focus on the emerging field of “nanotherapeutics,” the application of devices on the scale of nanometers -– one billionth of a meter -- for treating disease via drug, gene and immunization ...

February 21, 2006

Kam Leong to Lead Duke Initiative Aimed at Nanomedicine

Kam Leong, a national leader in drug and gene delivery at Johns Hopkins University, has joined the department of biomedical engineering at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering, where he will serve as director of the school’s Bioengineering Initiative. Leong said he plans to focus on the emerging field of "nanotherapeutics," the application of devices on the scale of nanometers -– one billionth of a meter -- for treating disease via drug, gene and immunization therapies. ...

February 13, 2006

New 3-D Breast Scanner Lowers Radiation Dose, Improves Image

Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have created a new breast scanner that will dramatically improve their ability to visualize small tumors while also reducing radiation exposure to one-tenth that of normal mammograms. Moreover, the new device does not compress the breast, as do traditional mammograms. The new scanner uses computed tomography (CT) – a sophisticated form of X-ray imaging -- with a unique variation: it provides a three-dimensional image of the breast. Moreover, the new ...

February 4, 2006

Engineered Heart Tissue Offers Insights into Irregular Heartbeats, Defibrillator Failure

Note: Video of electrical activity in engineered heart tissue is available as a Quicktime file or as a Realmedia file. In the movie, voltage sensitive dyes cause the cells to fluoresce in proportion to their electrical activity level. The colors, ranging from red to blue, denote the level of cell activity, with red indicating active cells and blue cells at rest. Engineers who have induced heart cells in culture to mimic the properties of the heart ...

January 24, 2006

Fruit Fly's Beating Heart Helps Identify Human Heart Disease Genes

In a discovery that could greatly accelerate the search for genetic causes of heart disease, a multi-disciplinary Duke University research team has found that the common fruit fly can serve as a powerful new model for testing human genes implicated in heart disease. The finding is important, the Duke team said, because the entire genome of the fruit fly is well understood and catalogued, enabling researchers to systemically screen genes to identify potential gene mutations or ...

December 7, 2005

How Brain-operated Machines Can Be Stable, Functional

DURHAM, N.C. -- In order to function stably over long periods, brain-operated devices such as neural prosthetic limbs for paralyzed people will require brain signals fed from hundreds of infinitesimal recording electrodes in the brain, Duke University researchers have concluded. Their findings in studies with monkeys are defining the requirements for successful brain-machine systems, as the researchers progress toward the first clinical trials of fully functional neural prosthetics. The researchers, led by neurobiologist Miguel Nicolelis, published their ...

November 19, 2005

Polymer Gel Can Block Toxic Leakage Problem In Gene Therapy

Note to editors: A high-resolution digital photo of Fan Yuan posed with visual evidence for his findings can be accessed at http://www.dukephoto.duke.edu/pages/Duke_News_Service/Yuan114205029.jpg. The evidence shows glowing viruses concentrated in the liver of a "control" animal not receiving the poloxamer mixture. In contrast, the viruses stayed in the tumor of an animal injected with the polymer. DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University biomedical engineers have devised a potentially patentable method to arrest toxic leakages of genetically engineered viruses ...

November 11, 2005

Duke Biomedical Engineering Receives Wallace Coulter Translational Partnership Award

DURHAM, NC – The Biomedical Department at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering is one of only nine departments selected nationally to receive a Wallace H. Coulter Foundation Translational Research Partnership Award in Biomedical Engineering. This Award will provide $580,000 each year for the next five years. Through this Award, the Foundation will form a working partnership with the Biomedical Engineering Department to promote, develop, and support translational research through such activities as funding promising research ...

November 5, 2005

Duke Engineers Developing Ultrasound Devices Combining 3-D Imaging With Therapeutic Heating

Durham, N.C. -- Duke University engineers are developing technology that may enable physicians to someday use high frequency ultrasound waves both to visualize the heart's interior in three dimensions and then selectively destroy heart tissue with heat to correct arrhythmias. "No one else has developed a way for ultrasound to combine therapy and imaging in a catheter, let alone 3-D imaging," said Stephen Smith, the biomedical engineering professor who heads the project at Duke's Pratt School ...

October 13, 2005

Engineers Build DNA "Nanotowers" with Enzyme Tools

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke engineers have added a new construction tool to their bio-nanofabrication toolbox. Using an enzyme called TdTase, engineers can vertically extend short DNA chains attached to nanometer-sized gold plates. This advance adds new capability to the field of bio-nanomanufacturing. "The process works like stacking Legos to make a tower and is an important step toward creating functional nanostructures out of biological materials," said Ashutosh Chilkoti, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Duke's Pratt ...

September 17, 2005

Designing 'Gene Circuits' that Control Cell Populations with Killer Genes

Durham, N.C. -- Lingchong You's Duke University research team makes and programs circuits, although not the kind that work in electronics devices. His are "synthetic gene circuits" that can regulate cell populations with molecular signaling and intentional extermination. Such biocircuits have great potential for applications in biotechnology, computation, environmental engineering and medicine. For example, a "suicide" biocircuit could potentially be programmed into bacteria used to clean up pollution, making the microbes die off once their job ...

September 1, 2005

Expanding Application of Unique Ultrasound Technique

Trahey and Nightingale Pratt engineers evaluating a unique Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) ultrasound are now expanding the technique's usage beyond previous applications to breast cancers, to include other kinds of tumors, and more tissues. The sound waves produced by ARFI ultrasound "push" on tissues to help physicians diagnose abnormalities such as tumors. "We have really advanced our technique," said Kathy Nightingale, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering who, together with her thesis adviser Gregg Trahey, pioneered ...

June 17, 2005

Arteries Bio-engineered from Elderly Cells

DURHAM, N.C. – Researchers from Duke University's Medical Center and Pratt School of Engineering have demonstrated that they can grow new human blood vessels from cells taken from patients who especially need such assistance – older adults with cardiovascular disease. The researchers said the results of their latest experiments represent a "proof of principle" for an approach that could be clinically applicable within five to ten years. The first to benefit from such bio-engineered arteries, according ...

June 1, 2005

Monkeys Adapt to Robot Arm as if it Were Their Own

Monkeys that learn to use their brain signals to control a robotic arm are adapting to treat the arm as if it were their own appendage, Duke University Medical Center and biomedical engineers have found. The finding has profound implications both for understanding the extraordinary adaptability of the primate brain and for the potential clinical success of brain-operated devices to give the handicapped the ability to control their environment, the researchers said. Led by neurobiologist Miguel Nicolelis ...

May 27, 2005

Duke Engineers Develop New 3-D Cardiac Imaging Probe

DURHAM, N.C. -- Biomedical engineers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering have created a new three-dimensional ultrasound cardiac imaging probe. Inserted inside the esophagus, the probe creates a picture of the whole heart in the time it takes for current ultrasound technology to image a single heart cross section. The new probe has considerable potential not only for evaluating the condition of the heart, but also for use in guiding therapeutic treatment devices, the researchers ...

May 11, 2005

Monkeys Adapt Robot Arm as Their Own

DURHAM, N.C. -- Monkeys that learn to use their brain signals to control a robotic arm are not just learning to manipulate an external device, Duke University Medical Center and biomedical engineers have found. Rather, their brain structures are adapting to treat the arm as if it were their own appendage. The finding has profound implications both for understanding the extraordinary adaptability of the primate brain and for the potential clinical success of brain-operated devices to ...

February 1, 2005

Devices Combine 3-D Ultrasound with Heat Therapy

Stephen Smith. Duke University engineers are developing technology that may enable physicians to someday use high frequency ultrasound waves both to visualize the heart's interior in three dimensions and then selectively destroy heart tissue with heat to correct arrhythmias. "No one else has developed a way for ultrasound to combine therapy and imaging in a catheter, let alone 3-D imaging," said Stephen Smith, the biomedical engineering professor who heads the project at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering. Smith's ...

February 1, 2005

Gel Blocks Toxic Leakage Problem In Gene Therapy

Fan Yuan Duke University biomedical engineers have devised a potentially patentable method to arrest toxic leakages of genetically engineered viruses that have plagued attempts to use gene therapy against cancerous tumors. The problem has been that viruses carrying anti-tumor genes have tended to leak from tumors, proving toxic to other body tissues. The researchers have developed a biocompatible polymer that briefly changes from a liquid at 39 degrees Fahrenheit to a gel at body temperatures to block ...

January 28, 2005

Studies Suggest 'Bladder Pacemaker' for People With Spinal Cord Injury

DURHAM, N.C. -- Biomedical engineers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering have demonstrated for the first time that stimulating a specific nerve in the pelvis triggers the process that causes urine to begin flowing out from the bladder, refuting conventional thinking that "bladder emptying" requires signals from the brain. Their research, carried out with animals, could lead to a "bladder pacemaker" to restore bladder control for the more than 200,000 Americans living with spinal cord ...

January 1, 2005

Research Suggests 'Bladder Pacemaker' for Spinal Cord Injury

Biomedical engineers at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering have demonstrated for the first time that stimulating a specific nerve in the pelvis triggers the process that causes urine to begin flowing out from the bladder, refuting conventional thinking that "bladder emptying" requires signals from the brain. Their research, carried out with animals, could lead to a "bladder pacemaker" to restore bladder control for the more than 200,000 Americans living with spinal cord injury (SCI) or disease-related ...

January 1, 2005

New Tool for Bio-Nanofabrication

Duke engineers have added a new construction tool to their bio-nanofabrication toolbox. Using an enzyme called TdTase, engineers can vertically extend short DNA chains attached to nanometer-sized gold plates. This advance adds new capability to the field of bio-nanomanufacturing. "The process works like stacking Legos to make a tower and is an important step toward creating functional nanostructures out of biological materials," said Ashutosh Chilkoti, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering. The ...

December 1, 2004

Pratt Engineer Works on Synthetic Gene Circuits

Lingchong You's research team at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering makes and programs circuits, although not the kind that work in electronics devices. His are "synthetic gene circuits" that can regulate cell populations with molecular signaling and intentional extermination. Such biocircuits have great potential for applications in biotechnology, computation, environmental engineering and medicine. For example, a "suicide" biocircuit could potentially be programmed into bacteria used to clean up pollution, making the microbes die off once their ...

May 1, 2004

Enzyme ‘Ink’ Shows Potential for Nanomanufacturing

Duke University engineers have demonstrated that enzymes can be used to create nanoscale patterns on gold. Since many enzymes are already commercially available and well characterized, the potential for writing with enzyme ‘ink’ represents an important advance in nanomanufacturing. This research was funded by the National Science Foundation through a Nanotechnology Interdisciplinary Research Initiative (NIRT) grant. Enzymes are nature's catalysts -- proteins that stimulate chemical reactions in the body and are used in a wide range of ...

May 1, 2004

Duke Engineers Probing Contortions of the Heart's Blood Vessels

Duke biomedical engineers have received more than $2.2 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue their explorations of how the complex moving and flexing of blood vessels during a heartbeat might contribute to heart disease. They are combining clinical images of beating hearts and computer software to perform challenging visualization studies of the coronary arteries that that supply the heart with blood. Their goal is to determine whether there are certain motions that ...

April 29, 2004

Duke Engineers Probing Contortions of the Heart's Blood Vessels

April 21, 2004

Enzyme 'Ink' Shows Potential for Nanomanufacturing

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University engineers have demonstrated that enzymes can be used to create nanoscale patterns on gold. Since many enzymes are already commercially available and well characterized, the potential for writing with enzyme ‘ink’ represents an important advance in nanomanufacturing. This research was funded by the National Science Foundation through a Nanotechnology Interdisciplinary Research Initiative (NIRT) grant. Enzymes are nature's catalysts -- proteins that stimulate chemical reactions in the body and are used in a ...

April 1, 2004

Research Suggests New Way to Repair Cartilage Damage

Duke biomedical engineers have developed a technique to use a natural polymer to fill in and protect cartilage wounds within joints, and to provide supportive scaffolding for new cartilage growth. Their advance offers a potential solution for a central problem in generating new cartilage -- providing a support for cartilage cells as they regenerate cartilage tissue. In tests on rabbits, Lori Setton, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering, and her research ...

April 1, 2004

Engineers Developing Technology for Brain-Machine Interfaces

Biomedical engineers at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering are developing much of the basic technology behind Duke experiments aiming to enable primates and ultimately humans to operate machines exclusively with their brain signals. Their efforts include custom engineering of interface devices, programming of "neural net" computer systems and extensive computer analysis. "The issue here is really the challenge of developing technology and also understanding how the brain works," said Craig Henriquez, the Pratt School's W.H. Gardner ...

March 25, 2004

Duke Engineers Developing Technology Underlying Brain-Machine Interfaces

March 9, 2004

Research Suggests New Way to Repair Cartilage Damage

DURHAM, N.C. – Duke biomedical engineers have developed a technique to use a natural polymer to fill in and protect cartilage wounds within joints, and to provide supportive scaffolding for new cartilage growth. Their advance offers a potential solution for a central problem in generating new cartilage -- providing a support for cartilage cells as they regenerate cartilage tissue. In tests on rabbits, Lori Setton, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering, ...

February 25, 2004

Two Duke Engineering Professors Win Career Awards

Assistant professors Andrew Schuler and Adam P. Wax at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering have received Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) awards from the National Science Foundation. Each award is expected to total $400,000 over five years. “The CAREER award is NSF’s most prestigious honor for junior faculty members,” the federal research agency said. “The CAREER program recognizes and supports the early career-development activities of those teacher-scholars who are most likely to become the academic ...

December 4, 2003

New Study to Improve Understanding of Osteoarthritis

DURHAM, N.C. -- Using a three-pronged approach, basic scientists and clinicians at Duke University hope not only to better understand the underlying mechanisms of osteoarthritis, but to develop strategies to help sufferers cope with this debilitating disorder. The need is great, the researchers argue, since there are more than 40 million Americans with the disorder, which is known as the "wear-and-tear" form of arthritis. The other major form, rheumatoid arthritis, occurs when the body's immune system ...

November 1, 2003

New Training Grant Combines Engineering and Life Sciences

Engineers and life scientists at Duke University believe that by combining the strengths and insights of their specialties, they can train researchers uniquely qualified to manipulate molecules, cells and tissues to treat human diseases and disorders. "In recent years, there has been a surge in the application of biotechnology to clinical medicine through such fields as tissue engineering, drug delivery, biomaterials, biosenors, genomics and proteomics," said Duke's Farshid Guilak, Ph.D. "At Duke, we have created a ...

October 14, 2003

Monkeys Control Robot Arm Using Brain Signals As If It Were Their Own

DURHAM, N.C. -- Researchers at Duke University have taught rhesus monkeys to consciously control the movement of a robot arm in real time, using only signals from their brains and visual feedback on a video screen. The scientists said that the animals appeared to operate the robot arm as if it were their own limb. The scientists and engineers said their achievement represents an important step toward technology that could enable paralyzed people to control "neuroprosthetic" ...

September 12, 2003

New Solution for Toxicity Problems in Gene Therapy

DURHAM, N.C. - A Duke research collaboration has identified a likely route for "leakage" of therapeutic gene-bearing viruses out of tumors in experimental anti-cancer gene therapy experiments in laboratory animals. The group also found this toxic leakage can be avoided by using a chemical extracted from common brown algae. Their work was described in a presentation Monday, September 8, 2003, at the American Chemical Society's national meeting in New York, as well as in a research ...

September 1, 2003

Special Drug Delivery

By Dennis Meredith, for DukeMed Magazine A cloud of gelatinous capsules swirls into the bloodstream from the tip of a comparatively colossal hypodermic needle. At a thousandth of the diameter of a human hair, the capsules spreading through the circulation are nearly a hundred times smaller than the blood cells that stream alongside them. Yet tiny as they are, these submicroscopic capsules bear the stamp of human design—their surfaces are a waxy patchwork not found in ...

June 16, 2003

Special Delivery

(From DukeMed Magazine) By Dennis Meredith A cloud of gelatinous capsules swirls into the bloodstream from the tip of a comparatively colossal hypodermic needle. At a thousandth of the diameter of a human hair, the capsules spreading through the circulation are nearly a hundred times smaller than the blood cells that stream alongside them. Yet tiny as they are, these submicroscopic capsules bear the stamp of human design—their surfaces are a waxy patchwork not found in nature, ...

May 1, 2003

Engineers Design New Optical Microprobe to Detect Organ Abnormalities

Photonics and ultrasound engineering researchers from Duke's Pratt School of Engineering and George Washington University have collaborated to design an optical scanner miniaturized enough to be inserted into the body, where its light beams could someday detect abnormalities hidden in the walls of the colon, bladder or esophagus. The experimental device, called an "electrostatic micromachine scanning mirror for optical coherence tomography," is described in an article published in the April 15 issue of the research journal ...

May 1, 2003

Pratt Fellow examines genetic manipulation

Imagine conducting innovative and potentially life saving biomedical research all before your 22nd birthday. Jamie Bergen will tell you that such dreams are possible through the Pratt Fellows program. Bergen is one of two dozen undergraduates selected annually to receive the school’s distinguished Pratt Fellowship, which allows students to receive course credit and a summer stipend to conduct research under the direct supervision of faculty members. Fellows are selected their junior year based upon research interests, academic record, intellectual ability and maturity. Bergen’s ...

April 17, 2003

Engineers Design New Optical Microprobe to Detect Subsurface Organ Abnormalities

DURHAM, N.C. -- Photonics and ultrasound engineering researchers from Duke University and The George Washington University have collaborated to design an optical scanner miniaturized enough to be inserted into the body, where its light beams could someday detect abnormalities hidden in the walls of the colon, bladder or esophagus. The experimental device, called an "electrostatic micromachine scanning mirror for optical coherence tomography," is described in an article published in the April 15, 2003, issue of the ...

April 1, 2003

Chandran Family Giving $1 Million to Pratt School of Engineering

Clarence Chandran and his late wife Beverley are giving Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering $1 million in separate gifts for the new Center for Interdisciplinary Engineering, Medicine and Applied Sciences (CIEMAS) and for research in brain tumor imaging. "These gifts are a very significant contribution to our effort to make Pratt a global leader in engineering research and education," said Duke President Nannerl O. Keohane in announcing the gifts March 24. "We are deeply grateful to Clarence and Beverley for their ...

April 1, 2003

Human Testing Starts of Engineered Anti-Cancer Drug Carrier

The first phase of clinical testing has begun of a heat-triggered, sub-microscopic drug carrier invented by Professor David Needham of the Pratt Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and developed in collaboration with Dr. Mark Dewhirst in the Department of Radiation Oncology. The drug carriers are liposomes that are engineered to release the agents they carry at the cancer site when tumor temperatures are raised to 41 degrees Celsius. The clinical trial just getting underway is using the special liposomes to carry ...

January 1, 2003

Monkeys Control Robot Arm Using Brain Signals

Researchers at Duke University have taught rhesus monkeys to consciously control the movement of a robot arm in real time, using only signals from their brains and visual feedback on a video screen. The scientists said that the animals appeared to operate the robot arm as if it were their own limb. The scientists and engineers said their achievement represents an important step toward technology that could enable paralyzed people to control "neuroprosthetic" limbs, and even ...

January 1, 2003

Tissue Engineering at Pratt

By Anu Kotha (Kotha is a freshman at Pratt) Within the next 10 years, more than 70 million people are going to join the ranks of seniors. As they age, they will face several medical problems. One such problem concerns joints. The articular cartilage that allows bones to smoothly move over each other wears down with time. Unlike most tissues in the body, articular cartilage cannot heal itself. Due to the loss of this cartilage, bones rub ...

December 1, 2002

Researchers Find Possible Causes for Toxics Leaking from Tumors

A Duke research collaboration has identified a likely route for "leakage" of therapeutic gene-bearing viruses out of tumors in experimental anti-cancer gene therapy experiments in laboratory animals. The group also found this toxic leakage can be avoided by using a chemical extracted from common brown algae. Their work was described in a presentation Sept. 11 at the American Chemical Society's national meeting in New York, as well as in a research paper accepted for publication in ...

November 19, 2002

Two Grants to Aid Genomic Technology and Biophotonics at Pratt School of Engineering

DURHAM, N.C. -- The Whitaker Foundation has awarded two grants totaling nearly $2 million to Duke's Pratt School of Engineering to accelerate promising research and teaching programs in genomic technology and biomolecular modeling, and in biophotonics, the merger of optical technologies with medicine. Both "Special Opportunity Awards" went to the school's Department of Biomedical Engineering. Together, they will fund four new faculty members, support new Ph.D. fellowships, outfit two new laboratories and help develop new undergraduate ...

September 1, 2002

DARPA To Support Brain-Machine Research

DURHAM, N.C. -- Devices including "neuroprosthetic" limbs for paralyzed people and "neurorobots" controlled by brain signals from human operators could be the ultimate applications of brain-machine interface technologies developed under a $26 million contract to Duke sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The DARPA support will help launch Duke's Center for Neuroengineering, co-directed by Miguel Nicolelis, professor of neurobiology, and Craig Henriquez, the W.H. Gardner Jr. Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering. The center's scientists and engineers will seek ...

August 16, 2002

DARPA to Support Development of Human Brain-Machine Interfaces

DURHAM, N.C. -- Devices including "neuroprosthetic" limbs for paralyzed people and "neurorobots" controlled by brain signals from human operators could be the ultimate applications of brain-machine interface technologies developed under a $26 million contract to Duke University sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The contract is part of DARPA's Brain-Machine Interfaces Program (http://www.darpa.mil/dso/thrust/sp/bmi.htm), which seeks to develop new technologies for augmenting human performance by accessing the brain in real time and integrating the ...

April 9, 2002

Ultrasound Technique May Help Detect Breast Abnormalities

DURHAM, N.C. - New and promising ultrasound techniques devised at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering can "remotely palpate" tissues, detecting and in some cases characterizing breast abnormalities that are deeper and smaller than the 1-centimeter-sized lesions that physicians can detect by feel, said the lead author of a just-released study. The technology has many other potential clinical applications, such as detecting clogged arteries and deep vein blood clots, Kathy Nightingale, an assistant research professor of ...

February 1, 2002

Two Whitaker Foundation Grants to Fund Genomic Technology and Biophotonics

The Whitaker Foundation has awarded two grants totaling nearly $2 million to the Pratt School of Engineering to accelerate promising research and teaching programs in genomic technology and biomolecular modeling, and in biophotonics, the merger of optical technologies with medicine. Both "Special Opportunity Awards" went to the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Together, they will fund four new faculty members, support new Ph.D. fellowships, outfit two new laboratories and help develop new undergraduate and graduate courses in biophotonics and genomic technology. "These awards build on the ...

August 31, 2001

Duke Researchers' Tree-Like Biomolecule Under Evaluation for Applications in Eyes and Joints

Note to editors: Mark Grinstaff can be reached at (919) 660-1621 or mwg@chem.duke.edu. A matching graphic slugged molecule.tif is available at http://photo1.dukenews.duke.edu/pages/Duke_News_Service. DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University Chemistry Department researchers are creating unique polymers out of naturally occurring building blocks that don't provoke immune reactions and in some cases also biodegrade in the body. The tree-like, globular-shaped substances are being evaluated for a variety of medical uses. Called biodendrimers, these structures are prepared by systematically reacting acids ...